LIBRARY

21 June 2014

This morning, Surya P. Subedi, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights in Cambodia, visited and held discussions with land grab victims in Chikhor Leu village, Sre Ambel District, Koh Kong province. The land overlapped with an economic land concession given over to the production of sugar which was linked to ruling-party senator Ly Yong Phat.

In the afternoon, Subedi also visited Spean Ches community, Village 6, in Preah Sihanouk province. Some residents of this community were among the over 100 families violently evicted on April 20, 2007 from a plot of land 500 meters away in Commune 4, Mittapheap District, Sihanoukville, by 150 armed forces including military. Subedi held discussions with community members before meeting with the provincial governor.

Subedi’s visit throws light on long-standing land grabbing cases that remain unresolved. In both cases, the state-involved land grabs happened over half a decade ago.

10 June 2014

In the lead-up to World Day Against Child Labour, LICADHO is releasing a two-part digital photo essay series highlighting linkages between child labour and issues such as poverty, school drop-out rates and land eviction. The second video looks into the life of Kompieng , 16, who dropped out of school and started doing odd jobs to help support her family.

6 April 2014

This morning, two houses were partially destroyed in Boeung Kak Muoy Commune, Toul Kork District, Phnom Penh. Ly Srea Keng, whose house was attacked, has been involved in a longstanding dispute with Khun Sea Company and has suffered a number of previous attacks against him including physical assault and attempted arson. Some people were injured during the violence and were sent for medical treatment.

LICADHO highlighted this case last week in a statement that marked a renewed upswing in violent land grabs since the start of 2014. Today's action is further evidence that the Cambodian government is failing to address the ongoing land crisis in Cambodia.

1 April 2014

The number of people affected by state-involved land conflicts in Cambodia since 2000 passed the half-million mark in March, according to data collected by LICADHO.

To mark this somber milestone, LICADHO has published a new video and map which together illustrate the wide distribution of conflicts and the rapid growth of land grabbing as an issue over the past 13 years. The first few months of 2014 have seen a renewed wave of violent land grabbing that has affected 2,246 families across the provinces monitored by LICADHO.

1 April 2014

Between January 2000 and March 2014, LICADHO documented more than 500,000 Cambodians affected by state-involved land conflicts in investigations covering roughly half the country. After 13 years, land grabbing shows little sign of slowing down and the first few months of 2014 have seen continued destruction of homes, forest and livelihoods.

24 March 2014

2013 was dominated by one event: the National Assembly elections. Throughout the year, Phnom Penh saw some of its largest demonstrations in decades as Cambodian people took to the streets to demand their rights.

However, as documented by LICADHO in the report ‘Human Rights 2013: The Year in Review’, the elections witnessed an unprecedented level of fraud and left the country in a state of political turmoil; conflict over land and natural resources continued to be a major source of human rights violations throughout the year; strikes and labor issues gave rise to discord, often attracting violent action from the authorities; and human rights defenders remained a target of harassment, threats, unjustified criminal charges and violence.

21 March 2014

Elections aside, land remained the single most contentious issue in Cambodia in 2013, as it has been for at least the last 10 years. Over 2.2 million hectares of Cambodian land have been granted to large firms in the form of economic land concessions (ELCs).

16 March 2014

Today, dozens of villagers have staged a road block in Koh Kong's Thmar Bang district to prevent Chinese company Sinohydro from bringing heavy machinery into the area for a large scale hydroelectric dam project which would force hundreds of families off their land.

This marks the third consecutive day villagers have blocked the road. Sinohydro's local partner Pheapimex, owned by CPP senator Lao Mengkin, has been involved in some of Cambodia's most notorious land conflicts, including the Boeung Kak lake dispute.

14 February 2014

At about 7am this morning, the road leading to Borei Keila was blocked and riot police, military police and security guards were deployed to remove the families from the building. Six people were seriously injured in the ensuing clashes, including one 7-month-pregnant woman.

14 February 2014

This morning, security forces violently ended Borei Keila community's two-day occupation of a building on their land once promised to them.

At about 7am this morning, the road leading to Borei Keila was blocked and riot police, military police and security guards were deployed to remove the families from the building. Six people were seriously injured in the ensuing clashes, including one 7-month-pregnant woman. On Wednesday, over 150 dispossessed Borei Keila families moved in to the building - once promised to them in a land-sharing agreement in 2003 - after the government again failed to remedy the loss of their homes following their violent eviction in January 2012.

28 January 2014

Today, the United Nations will conduct a Universal Periodical Review (UPR) of Cambodia to look into some of the key human rights issues affecting the country, from systematic attacks against human rights defenders to labour trafficking and obstacles against basic freedoms such as right to assembly and expression. LICADHO, by itself and with partners, has contributed to this process by submitting a number of documents.

24 January 2014

On Jan 24, 2009, Dey Krahorm community was razed to the ground in a violent eviction carried out by company 7NG and state authorities. Hundreds of families were left homeless. Some residents were sent to a relocation site 45 kms from Phnom Penh.

This morning, communities, including Boeng Kak lake, Borei Keila and Thmor Kol, unions and other civil society groups joined former Dey Krahorm residents in solidarity to mark the 5-year anniversary of their brutal eviction. Outside the Dey Krahorm land, where new buildings have just started construction, communities spoke of their own eviction experiences and their determination to continue fighting forced relocation. The groups also called for the release of the 23 workers and human rights defenders imprisoned in early January. One of the detainees, Chan Puthisak, is a leader of the Boeung Kak Lake community.

6 January 2014

Five female representatives of Boeung Kak Lake community were arrested this morning as they prepared to protest in front of the French Embassy for the release of other imprisoned human rights defenders.

Meanwhile authorities continue to refuse to disclose the place of detention of at least 23 other people who were arrested and charged during recent brutal crackdowns in Phnom Penh. One of them is 17 year old boy. For the past three days their families, lawyers and independent medical professionals have been denied information about their location and health condition. Some were savagely beaten during arrest in Phnom Penh and are in urgent need of medical attention.

Those arrested this morning are Tep Vanny, Yorm Bopha, Pan Chunreth, Bop Chorvy and Sok Srey Leap. They are currently held at a police station on National Road 5.

22 November 2013

After more than 14 months detention, Yorm Bopha was finally released from Police Judiciaire prison (PJ) at 5.45 this evening. Her much-anticipated Supreme Court hearing began this morning at 9.45 as more than 400 supporters, including monks and civil society, joined her family and community outside the courtroom. After a 2-hour hearing, the Supreme Court granted bail to Bopha pending her re-trial at the Appeal Court.

Clearly emotional to be reunited with her eight-year-old son, and expressing gratitude to her fellow community members for their unstinting support, Bopha headed to Boeung Kak surrounded by well-wishers to celebrate her release.

Get the details of today's release via our live stream.

22 November 2013

On November 22, 2013, jailed land activist Yorm Bopha, declared Prisoner of Conscience in 2012, will appear in front of the Supreme Court for her last hearing to seek release. LICADHO will be live streaming news as-it-happens both inside and outside of courtroom.

4 September 2013

Today marks one year of detention since the arrest of Boeung Kak activist and prisoner of conscience Yorm Bopha. This video tells her story, from her strong stance in support of detained community members to her arrest and groundless conviction.

23 July 2013

The Guardian newspaper recently ran a damning expose of child labor on the KSL Group sugar plantations in Cambodia that supply the sugar giant Tate & Lyle Sugars. Rather than acting quickly to address the abuses, the companies seem to have resorted to a strategy of denial and legal bullying in an attempt to defend their tarnished reputations.

3 July 2013

In the wake of another two days of protests by members of the Boeung Kak community in Phnom Penh, who are demanding just resolution to a long-standing land conflict affecting their community before the national election on 28 July, we the undersigned non-governmental organizations (NGOs) wish to condemn the use of disproportionate force against protesters by the municipal police and other security forces. These protests are just the latest in a series of protests which have resulted in the use of violence or disproportionate force against protesters calling for an end to land disputes.

18 June 2013

Imprisoned Boeung Kak Lake land activist Yorm Bopha filed an appeal with the Supreme Court on June 17, 2013, in a bid to overturn or reduce her two-year prison sentence. She was convicted for her alleged involvement in a physical assault, but it is widely believed that the charges came in retaliation for her land rights activism.

Bopha was arrested in September 2012 and convicted of “intentional violence” in December; she was originally sentenced to three years imprisonment. The Court of Appeal suspended one year of her sentence on Friday, June 14, meaning she is scheduled for release in September 2014. Both Bopha’s original trial and her appeal were characterized by a stunning lack of evidence

5 June 2013

The appeal hearing of imprisoned Boeung Kak community member Yorm Bopha began today at approximately 2:45 p.m. in Phnom Penh, with hundreds of supporters gathering outside the court’s gates. An additional 30 to 40 members of a pro-government motodop association organized a counter-protest calling for Bopha to remain in prison. The counterprotest itself was not that vocal, but the group used piped-in crowd noise, channeled through a megaphone, in an attempt to drown out the chants of Bopha’s supporters. At least one of the motodop group told a human rights monitor he was paid 30,000 riels to protest.

Inside the court, approximately 40 people from local and international NGOs, foreign embassies, the United Nations, and media observed the hearing. Bopha and her husband both testified.

After three hours, the hearing was adjourned, to be continued on June 14 at 2 p.m.